I just purchased a "Manufacture Refurbished" Asus Eee T101MT netbook and I'm having some issues. It was purchased off Ebay, don't scoff, as there is no problem sending it back. I'd like to solve the issue if possible though due to getting a good price. I've never had an Asus or a hybrid before, so maybe I'm missing something?

There appears to be some missing Asus software and as I cannot get the "f9 recovery" utility to work? It comes with 2g of Ram and loaded with Windows 7 Pro with COA.

1) There is apparently no recovery partition as only the {C: drive} shows? Also, I cannot figure out how to restore the unit via the "f9 Recovery" utility? The instruction manual says a "Recovery System" dialog box should come up when pressing the f9 button at boot. However, all I get is the "Windows Boot Manager" and I don't see a full system restore option under that?

2) The manual also says you should disable the "Boot Buster", via f2, if restoring from an external device. This isn't applicable but upon doing such and entering the BIOS SETUP UTILITY >BOOT, there is no reference to Boot Booster or a "disable" feature for such?

3) This model has a "Express Gate" quick boot option. It allows you to boot into the Asus "interface" program via a special start button. However, no features of the Express Gate button work and I cannot find the Asus Interface software/Icon within Windows either?

4) There should have been many bloated programs and desktop Icons, such as trial versions of "Office", "Skype", etc, etc. None of that is present and in fact there are only 5 Icons showing (Computer, Network, Recycle Bend, Control Panel, ManyCam).

THIS (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gFlHkIKMU0) U-Tube video gives a review from a boxed unit with features. My unit is missing all the Asus features as he is showing.

Is there anyway to rectify this? I mean, can I download the missing features and how do I reset the laptop to Manufacture Specs?

Thanks, Ralph

wd4nzx

01-14-2013, 01:27 AM

Your post leads me to believe that the previous owner replaced the original OS and in the process blew away the "F9" restore partition as well as the file partition for Express Gate. It may, or may not be such a good thing, depending on how the installation was accomplished. Most people don't need the Express Gate stuff, not so useful in my humble opinion, but that you can get back if you order Restore Disks from Asus. (DVDs actually). That would also get the bloatware back if you really want it! It may also get you the dumbded down (starter) version of the os.

If it all works and you have adaquate storage on the system then you may be miles ahead! After all, most of us just delete the bloatware after we get the system anyway.

Zygomorphic

01-14-2013, 11:24 AM

Thanks @wd4nzx, that is what I do whenever I get a computer. The bloatware won't help you, in fact, on such a slow machine it will simply slow your computer down dramatically.

ralph IIII

01-14-2013, 06:12 PM

UPDATE!!

Hello and thanks for the replies. I need some more input as the "system reserve" partition is a hidden partition as I've learned.

It does show within the Computer Management and as I run "EaseUs Partition Recovery". However, it only shows as being 100mb in size with only 30mb being used? That seems to small to hold the Operating System and Recovery Utilities and I thought I read it is supposed to be 10gb in size? I'm not sure of the later though.

1) Irrespective, the F9 full recovery feature doesn't come up as nor does any of the Asus Software. The "Boot Booster" utility doesn't show in BIOS either.

2) I typically remove unnecessary bloatware as well. However, I need the abitlity to reset the computer if there is ever a major failure or in case of future resale. Some of the utilities missing are necessary for the proper function of this laptop, including Express Gate and Pen Write features. This is a touchscreen laptop which converts into a tablet. So those features are necessary for certain functions....

3) This laptop comes with a Windows 7 Pro COA which is also denoted on the box. There is no reason anyone would have swapped out the Windows Platform for the same Platform. It appears they reformated the HDD, deleted and then lost a lot of stuff?

A) IS THERE ANYWAY TO GET THE F9 RESTORATION UTILITY TO RUN BY ACCESSING OR DOING SOMETHING TO "SYSTEM RESERVE"?
B) CAN I ACCESS THE SYSTEM RESERVE TO SEE IF THERE IS ANYTHING IN IT OR MISSING?
C) CAN I UPDATE THE BIOS SOMEHOW TO SOLVE THE ISSUE?